
Who Was Rosalind?
Shakespeare's great women were acted by boys. Susan Hitch looks at who they were and what boys still have to tell us? From 2013.
In 'As You Like It', Shakespeare created one of his greatest and most complicated female roles.
At a time when women were not allowed to act on stage, the role would have been taken by a young boy.
But who?
Susan Hitch tries to find out.
The actor, critic and academic looks at how Shakespeare wrote for his actors, the educational culture of Elizabethan England, and the brilliance of the makeup artists of Shakespeare's company.
Susan talks to academic experts, to actor Adrian Lester who has played Rosalind, and to contemporary schoolboys and teachers about boys playing girls.
She also discovers how radically our ideas of intimacy and desire have changed in the last 400 years and how strong the power of theatre still is today.
Producer: Martin Smith
First broadcast in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 in February 2013.
Last on
Broadcasts
- Mon 18 Feb 2013 16:00ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4
- Fri 13 Sep 2019 06:30ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 Extra
- Fri 13 Sep 2019 13:30ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 Extra
- Fri 13 Sep 2019 20:30ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 Extra
- Sat 14 Sep 2019 01:30ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 Extra
- Fri 2 May 2025 10:30ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 Extra
- Fri 2 May 2025 16:30ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 Extra
- Sat 3 May 2025 00:30ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 Extra